At 1:10 p.m., Martinez's fleet finally joined the main fleet of the expeditionary force, and Martinez finally breathed a sigh of relief, in fact, the battle with the People's Army fleet just now was not long, and its main fleet basically did not fight much, but it made Martinez feel a little tired.

Judging from the actions of the British fleet in changing its voyage several times just now, the opponent's response shows that although the navy is proficient, the actual combat experience is still insufficient, but the reaction speed and judgment are too fast, and almost as soon as they change, the other side can immediately make changes, and the performance of the opponent's warships is indeed very good, so in the end, they still went around the opponent's back and formed a flanking attack with the main fleet of the expeditionary force. However, in the end, the other party was still delayed, and when the main force of the expeditionary fleet arrived, it was not a complete defeat.

At this time, the main force of the expeditionary fleet was lined up in three columns, namely, the first group of British battleships in the center, the French battleship detachment and the Russian-Dutch battleship squadron on the left and right; on the right flank were the second British armored cruiser squadron and the first protective cruiser squadron; on the left flank were the French armored cruiser detachment and the second protective cruiser squadron; and the ships were all following behind the battleship detachments. After the return of the Martinez fleet, it was lined up to the right of the Russian-Dutch battleship wing, and the two armored cruisers were temporarily incorporated into the second armored cruiser squadron, and the five destroyers were formed into one squadron, following behind the Martinez fleet.

And when Martinez's fleet returned to adjust the queue, Martinez also reported the process of his fleet to the Expeditionary Force Fleet Commander Phillips on the process of the battle between his fleet and the People's Army fleet. Of course, the focus was on the process of moving and moving between himself and the KPA fleet, and the battle between the two cruisers had already been reported to Phillips by the three British cruisers that had withdrawn from the battlefield in advance.

After reading the telegram sent by Martinez, the staff officers began a heated discussion, but Phillips did not say anything about it, but only took a telescope to observe the KPA fleet about 15,000 meters away.

At this time, the People's Army fleet was also adjusting its formation, 6 battleships lined up in two columns, the first was the Gan Jiang and the Mo Xie, although the traces on the deck after being shelled were still very obvious, but it also added a bit of murder to the two warships, after all, it was after the baptism of blood and fire on the battlefield, and behind the battleships were armored cruisers, which were also divided into two columns, with a column of cruisers on the left and right, and finally a destroyer.

However, what puzzled Phillips was that the formation of the KPA fleet was not like attacking, retreating was not like retreating, and he didn't understand what the intention was, as if he was waiting for the expeditionary fleet to strike first and then respond.

Judging from the battle between the People's Army fleet and the Martinez fleet just now, although Phillips also admitted that the combat effectiveness of the People's Army fleet is indeed very strong, the performance of the warships is excellent, and although the crews and soldiers are lacking in actual combat experience, they are also well-trained and skilled, and although the expeditionary force fleet is now divided into three fleets, the battle between a single fleet and the people's army fleet is basically a battle with a small number of wins and more losses, but the expeditionary force fleet has an absolute superiority in numbers, so if the people's army fleet engages the expeditionary force fleet head-on, it will definitely be defeated, and it is impossible for the commander of the people's army fleet not to see this, why are they now putting on a posture of waiting for the expeditionary fleet to come to battle, it is difficult to say that there is some trickery?

Thinking of this, Phillips also felt a strong uneasiness in his heart, but he couldn't think of what tricks the People's Army fleet could have at this time, and there was an ambush behind it? However, before the war, Britain made inquiries from many sides and basically determined that the People's Army Navy only had 8 battleships, even if the East China Government would have a private collection, it would be 10 battleships, and there were 6 in front of it, and there could be several battleships if there was an ambush, or the People's Army Navy would use a large number of destroyers to launch a ** attack on the expeditionary force fleet under the cover of a small number of battleships of the People's Army, but the expeditionary force fleet itself also had a large number of destroyers and cruisers, and the battleships were medium and The close fire resistance is not weak, so with only a small number of battleships under the cover, it is difficult for the destroyer to get close to the expeditionary fleet that can launch the first distance, so what tricks can the KPA Navy have?

The more he couldn't figure it out, the more bottomless Phillips's heart became, and the more uneasy he became, and he even wondered whether to retreat back to Kaohsiung Harbor. But this is just a thought, because it has reached this moment, of course, it is impossible to retreat, and there are really not many opportunities to find the main force of the battleships of the People's Army, so Phillips thought about it for a while and ordered the four battle fleets to march in unison and approach the People's Army fleet.

Seeing that the expeditionary force fleet had finally started, the KPA fleet immediately turned around and retreated.

―――――――― Divider ――――――――― Dividing Line――――――――

"According to the report, the expeditionary force fleet has entered the Taiwan Strait in its entirety. ”

"Very well, where is the Southern Fleet now?"

"They have started and have now reached the sea surface of Kaohsiung, about 100 kilometers away from the southern entrance of the Taiwan Strait, which takes about three hours. ”

"Well, okay, then let's delay it for another 3 hours. Tell Chen Xiaojiang that he can't be careless, and now that the expeditionary force fleet has just entered the Taiwan Strait, it is possible to turn around and withdraw, and let him hang the expeditionary force fleet a little bit, and don't throw it too far. ”

As a matter of fact, after knowing that the expeditionary force fleet had entered the Taiwan Strait, the upper and lower crews of the Kunming ship were also very happy, because the operation had been planned for quite a long time and was finally about to succeed. Just wait for the Southern Fleet to be in place and complete the last piece of the puzzle.

―――――――― Divider ――――――――― Dividing Line――――――――

Phillips looked at his watch, the time had been indicated at 3:45 p.m., and the expeditionary fleet had entered the Taiwan Strait around 1 p.m., nearly three hours had passed.

During this time, the KPA fleet was retreating all the time, while the expeditionary fleet was in pursuit, and neither side used full speed, basically staying between 14-15 knots, while the distance remained around 10,000 meters. Phillips also tried to speed up the pursuit, but as soon as the expeditionary fleet accelerated, the KPA fleet also accelerated, and the expeditionary fleet slowed down, and the KPA fleet immediately slowed down, always keeping the distance between the two sides at about 10,000 meters, and sometimes the two sides would shell each other, but they did not hit each other.

In fact, at this point, Phillips still doesn't understand that the other party intends to introduce himself into the Taiwan Strait, but the width of the Taiwan Strait is also more than 100 kilometers, and there is still enough room for war, and one in the Taiwan Strait is the territory of the Qing court, and the other belongs to Japan, and the Qing court has secretly reached an agreement with Britain that the expeditionary fleet can dock at coastal ports under the control of the Qing court when necessary, and Japan, not to mention, is itself a member of the expeditionary force, and has been prepared to join the expeditionary force's land force as soon as the expeditionary force arrives, so the Taiwan side can not only dock the warships of the expeditionary force fleet at will, and can also get shore fire support, so Phillips is not worried about engaging the KPA fleet in the Taiwan Strait.

Of course, when entering the Taiwan Strait, Phillips is still a little worried, because although the southern entrance of the Taiwan Strait is wider than the northern entrance, it is divided into two waterways by the Penghu Islands, and it is also the narrowest section of the entire Taiwan Strait, of which the side of Taiwan Island is narrower, about 40 kilometers, and the side of Chinese mainland reaches 150 kilometers.

However, there are more than 60 islands in the Penghu Islands, and the sea area is very complicated, and if the People's Army intends to ambush the expeditionary fleet in the Taiwan Strait, this sea area is the most suitable location. Therefore, when the People's Army fleet passed through this sea area, Phillips stared intently, just to see if the People's Army fleet would turn around, if the People's Army fleet turned around here, it means that they must have an ambush in the Penghu Islands, and they are preparing to ambush the expeditionary force fleet here. The People's Army fleet passed through this section of the sea very smoothly, and there was no intention of stopping or turning around.

Even after the People's Army fleet passed, the expeditionary fleet naturally had to follow, and Phillips also sent two cruiser fleets to cover the passage of the fleet, and also sent a destroyer fleet into the Penghu Islands to search, as a result, the expeditionary fleet also passed through the waters of the Penghu Islands very smoothly, nothing happened, and the search fleet did not find anything.

After passing the Penghu Islands, there are no islands blocking the Taiwan Strait, and it is completely flat, so there is no need to worry about the attack of the People's Army fleet. This was supposed to be a good thing, but the uneasiness in Phillips's heart became stronger and stronger, and he didn't know what the People's Army fleet was planning to do if it had to lead itself into the Taiwan Strait.

At this time, a staff officer suggested to Phillips: "Your Excellency, it is not a way to consume them like this, it is better to divide two fleets, and go up from the left and right, and see how they deal with it." ”

Phillips pondered for a moment, and also felt that this suggestion could be tried, because it was already 4 o'clock in the afternoon, although it was still the end of August, and the days were long and the nights were short, but it was more than 3 hours at most before dark, so you can't just spend it with the other party until dark.

And at this moment, suddenly another staff officer said: "General, they are starting to turn." ”

Phillips was stunned, immediately grabbed the binoculars, looked ahead, and sure enough, he saw that all the warships of the KPA fleet were turning, and the staff officer said: "It seems that they plan to fight us here?"

So Phillips put down his binoculars and said, "Slow down, inform the fleets, prepare for battle, look at the lookouts of the ships, look around, if there are any other fleets approaching us." ”

It didn't take long for all the fleets to reply, and no other fleets were found nearby. At this time, the battleships of the KPA fleet had completed their U-turn and changed to a horizontal formation, with the six battleships lined up horizontally, with the bow facing the expeditionary fleet.

Phillips took a deep breath and said, "All offense." In his heart, he silently thought about what the People's Army fleet was going to do, and the answer was about to be revealed.